The conventional telephony network allows users to communicate with each other through a central system of switches, which can be referred to as telephone exchanges. The telephone exchanges provide electrical or optical switches to connect users and allow communication. The conventional telephony network is often referred to as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The switches and other equipment necessary to make a connection can be located, for example, in central offices (COs) and in customer premises. The PSTN can have local exchanges that allow a user to call another user of the PSTN through COs of the local exchange. The PSTN can also have long lines that allow long distance call transmission, such that a user can call another user on the PSTN that is not part of the local exchange. In this case, the call may be routed through multiple COs until the call reaches the called party's local exchange.
In recent years, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has provided an alternative to conventional telephone exchanges. VoIP employs the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or other IP-based networks. VoIP is a technology that allows a user to make telephone calls using a network connection instead of a traditional (analog) phone line connection. VoIP converts the voice signal from a telephone or a computer into a digital signal that is packetized over a network then converts it back at the other end so that a user can speak to anyone with a regular phone number or anyone who also uses VoIP technology. VoIP uses the network as the transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using IP rather than sending a voice signal over the PSTN.
Currently, a great deal of information concerning a telephone call is not correlated or stored together. This creates the inconvenience of having to supply or store the same information multiple times. For example, when a user calls a credit card company, the automated service asks the user to enter the user's credit card number and other information that identifies the user and the service that the user wants. However, once a user decides to speak to a customer representative, the user needs to repeat to the customer representative much of the information that was previously entered using the automated service, such as the credit card number. The problem of repeatedly providing the same information also occurs when calls are transferred between different departments or enterprises. For example, a user may call a brokerage house to inquire a specific investment product offered through the brokerage house, and the brokerage house transfers the call to an investment company who offers the investment product. Whatever information the user provides the brokerage house, the user needs to repeat again with the investment company as the investment company cannot have access to the brokerage house's records where the information is stored.